I hurried to my house, and was astonished.  A lot of people were dead in front of my house.  I called the names of my family members but there was no answer.

Soon, my house caught fire and began to burn.  The wind was from the west and I was standing on the east of my house. It was so hot that I couldn't stay where I was. I would have died if I kept standing there.  So I evacuated across the Shiroyama River.

People who were crushed under a collapsed house called me,

"Mr.Sugimoto, help me!  Mr. Sugimoto, help me!"

I could see their bodies and heads, but I couldn't do anything for them all by myself. They were under the collapsed houses.

I said to them,

"Hang in there, I will go get the rescue team come for help.  Please be patient."

I then went to the Shiroyama Primary School.  There was the mountain of dead bodies and the injured on the playground.